Mind Halton

Mental health problems can affect anyone, rich or poor, young or old, shattering the lives of those affected and the lives of the people close to them. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives. Each year more than 250,000 people are admitted to psychiatric hospitals and over 4,000 people take their own lives.

People with a mental illness can experience problems in the way they think, feel or behave. This can significantly affect their relationships, their work, and their quality of life. Having a mental illness is difficult, not only for the person concerned, but also for their family and friends.

Our vision is of a society that promotes and protects good mental health for all and that treats people with experience of mental distress fairly, positively and with respect.

Mind Halton aims to achieve its mission by:

Supporting people with mental health problems as they move towards a better life in society

Promoting the dignity, well being and self determination of people experiencing mental distress

Campaigning for social inclusion and combating stigma and discrimination experienced by people with mental health problems

Ensuring active service user consultation and involvement in the organisation at every level

Nurturing and developing our own staff to enhance both their job satisfaction and delivery of effective quality services

We are committed to providing a quality of service that anticipates, meets and exceeds the needs and expectations of service users, workers and other stakeholders.

The smallest change can often have the biggest impact for the good, we therefore welcome any comments or suggestions you may have on how we can improve and develop our services.

Mind Halton is committed to ensuring that its services are of the highest quality, however, there may be an occasion when you are dissatisfied with or unhappy about the service; when this happens you have the right to complain using Mind Halton’s complaints procedure. The complaints procedure enables Mind Halton to respond clearly and properly to complaints and to know when and why people are not satisfied with our services, so that we can improve them.

Mind Halton recognises that direct and indirect discrimination has profound effects on mental health. Thus Mind Halton aims to work for the elimination of discrimination in all aspects of mental health policy. Mind Halton is committed to an equal opportunities policy both for itself and for all mental health services.

Halton Association for Mental health was formed in November 1974 and in 1989 gained full affiliation to Mind the mental health charity. Mind Halton is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) and is currently managed by a board of seven trustees drawn from individuals with varying degrees of expertise, drawing on the experience and knowledge from service users, mental health professionals and lay people.

We are very keen for people with an interest in mental health to support our work by becoming members. Members can influence the work of the organisation and help with ideas or suggestions. They also have voting rights at our annual general meetings. Many members become volunteers, helping with our work in different ways. Without our members we would be unable to continue our work. If you would like to become a member or would like to become a volunteer then why not contact us directly.